


Aesthete - Kittens Make Everything Better

by cutsycat



Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1142]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Crack, Fluff and Crack, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 15:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16121696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: Tony and Gibbs challenge each other to see who can complete their escape room the fastest. Somehow kittens make everything better...





	Aesthete - Kittens Make Everything Better

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cutsycat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/gifts).



> Another dictionary.com word of the day drabble. This time from 06/16/2002 for the word [aesthete](http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/2002/06/16/aesthete).
> 
> aesthete  
> One having or affecting great sensitivity to beauty, as in art or nature.
> 
> It's my birthday, so I have decided to torture you all with another cat story based on a prompt of mine for the 2017 Happy Holidays Challenge. This is for Stocking Stuffer #19 requested by cutsycat (me) for the 2017 Happy Holidays Challenge, [here](https://ncis-discuss.livejournal.com/95769.html).
> 
> P.S. I've never been to an escape room, so apologies in advance if what I describe doesn't match what normally happens there.

# 

Aesthete - Kittens make everything better

Gibbs sighed as he turned around to look for where his husband had vanished to this time. Gibbs hated going to the mall, but contrary to popular belief it had nothing to do with the crowds and the noise and everything to do with his husband’s distractible nature. Tony insisted that it was the aesthete in him, but Gibbs privately wondered if his husband had ADD or something. 

With the amount of time that Tony ended up injured on the job, Gibbs had figured that one of the doctors would have noticed and commented on Tony’s ADD, but so far nothing. Kate had commented on it, but she thought it was just Tony’s frat boy nature. 

Gibbs hadn’t actually intended the headslaps to become as common as they had, but they really did seem to help Tony focus and if he singled Tony out that would really have been questionable. Shaking his head as he looked for his husband, Gibbs grinned when he saw Tony. Of course, Tony had gotten distracted by the pet store. 

Gibbs knew that Tony had always wanted a pet as a kid. Tony had hinted that he’d asked his dad for a puppy and had been given a pony instead. Gibbs didn’t think he was supposed to know that Tony had really wanted a cat, but had known that Senior would refuse, so he’d asked for a dog instead. 

At one point in time, Tony had been trying to convince Gibbs that kittens make everything better. He hadn’t succeeded, yet, but Gibbs was beginning to think that a kitten would make everything better as far as Tony was concerned. 

Slipping his hand around Tony’s waist, Gibbs propped his head on Tony’s shoulder, “Which one drew your eye this time?”

Tony leaned back into Gibbs’ body, “The rabbit over there with the black circle around its eyes. He looks like he needs a good home.”

“I’m sure someone will take him home,” Gibbs murmured, “ but we should be going.”

Tony sighed and nodded as they headed for their destination. They’d come to the mall for a reason, after all. The mall would be closing soon and they couldn’t afford to miss the chance as who knew when they’d be able to get back here again. 

“Are you ready?” Tony turned and grinned at Jethro.

“You’re going down, Tony.”

Tony only raised an eyebrow in return before heading into the escape room facility. They had a bet riding on who got out first. They’d each be picking a different escape room out of the options that had been set up at the mall. 

They’d traded a very generic favor in that the winner would get to do one thing of their choice and the other would have to agree no matter what when the winner called in the bet. Tony already had an idea of what he wanted to do if he won. They’d previously called the place to make reservations, so were able to just walk right in and explain to the attendant what they were looking for.

The attendant gave them a choice of five escape rooms. He insisted that all of them were the same level of difficulty. When Tony noticed that one of the escape rooms had a kitten in it, he had to pick that one. 

Gibbs rolled his eyes, “Kittens do not always make everything better, Tony.”

Tony stuck his tongue out at Gibbs. “You don’t know that.”

Gibbs shook his head and picked the room with the dog. He wasn’t entirely sure why all the rooms had animals to begin with. He didn’t know much about escape rooms, but that didn’t seem normal to him.

The attendant led them to their rooms and once they were both inside started the sequence at the same time. Tony’s mind immediately started whirling with things to try and various uses for the items in the room as he looked around to see what he had to work with. Despite his love for cats, Tony ignored the kitten as he catalogued the rest of the room.

Gibbs immediately pet the dog as he looked around. He didn’t see anything immediately useful for getting out of the room. Still he gathered everything that was removable in the room. 

Tony grabbed the wrench that was just lying around and headed for the door planning to try to get it off its hinges. Before he could try that, though, the kitten meowed and attracted his attention. Tony looked over at the kitten and noticed that it had its paw on a rather large button. 

A button that was large enough that the kitten’s paw made no impact. In fact, Tony wasn’t sure if the kitten put it’s whole body on it if it would be enough to press the button down. Figuring why not, Tony pressed the button down for the kitten.

Tony blinked when a door slid open that led out of the room. The kitten haughtily walked through the door and Tony followed, wondering if all the rooms would be so easy. The door closed behind Tony as he walked through. 

In the new room, Tony didn’t even know where to start, so he just looked at the kitten. The kitten began licking its hind leg. Tony sighed and looked around the room for inspiration.

It took Gibbs longer to figure out how to get out of the first room. The dog was absolutely no help as it spent all it’s time following Gibbs around. Gibbs finally made it out of the room by dismantling everything resembling a door in that room until he found the one that led out.

The next room was easier, though. The first thing he dismantled led to the way out. The room after had so many things to dismantle though that it again took him awhile to get out of it.

After staring around the room for inspiration and finding nothing, Tony looked back at the cat. That’s when he realized that while the kitten was licking its hind leg it was looking in a specific direction. Following that direction, Tony found the door that pretty much only an acrobat could reach. 

Well now that he knew where he needed to go it should be easy, right? Not so much. He didn’t have a history of acrobatics and had no idea how to get to the door about 6 feet above him. 

Still with some help from the kitten, Tony managed to find the hidden perches that made the door accessible. Dropping through the door and into the next room, Tony hoped this one required less acrobatics. 

He looked around the room noting that there were multiple doors to choose from this time. Knowing the kitten had been really helpful up until this point, Tony looked at the kitten. When the kitten settled in front of a single door, Tony went to it and opened it. 

He was happy to see that he’d made it to the end and that he’d made it there before Gibbs. Gibbs joined him five minutes later, grumbling and growling about how he’d had to dismantle all the rooms. Tony chuckled and grinned sharply, “Kittens really do make everything better, Jethro.”

“I guess we better go get a kitten then, Tony.”

“Really?” Tony’s eyes lit up and he immediately jumped up and grabbed Gibbs’ hand, dragging Gibbs out of the escape room place and back to the pet store. 

Gibbs chuckled and allowed himself to be led to the pet store. This time instead of just standing outside, Tony went in and browsed all the animals. Even though Gibbs specifically mentioned a kitten, Tony wanted to explore all his options before settling on one. 

Still they inevitably ended up at the kittens last as Tony tried to figure out which one he wanted. He looked back and forth between them all and couldn’t help muttering, “None of these are right.”

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean these all look like ones that could easily find a family. They just don’t feel like they need a home, especially not with us.”

“What are you looking for in a kitten, then, Tony?”

Tony shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe that one that helped me through the escape room. He seemed intelligent.”

“You know all the escape room animals are up for adoption, don’t you?”

“Really? Let’s go adopt the kitten that helped me out then.” Tony turned his adorable sad eyes on Gibbs. “Please?”

Gibbs chuckled and agreed, heading back to the escape room to find out what they needed to do to adopt the kitten that had helped Tony out. Fortunately, it was relatively easy once they explained what they wanted and soon Tony and Gibbs were heading home with their new kitten. 

Gibbs would never admit it to Tony, but he did have to agree that their new kitten made everything better. He had never realized how much difference having a lovable ball of fur in their house could make. It didn’t just brighten Tony’s face and bring a smile to him, which was lovely in and of itself, but it also made the edges of Gibbs’ mouth curve up as he watched it’s adorableness. 

On top of that, neither Tony nor Gibbs were ever alone when the other one wasn’t available. The kitten would even take a nap with them on the couch when they were sick. Gibbs had never believed that kittens made everything better, but now he couldn’t disagree.

He was living proof that kittens really do make everything better.

**Author's Note:**

> Only 1 more dictionary.com story written. The 2 stories after the one that I've written have been started, but they've turned into monster stories, so I hope I can get them done in time.
> 
> My 2018 Prompt collection is open [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018/profile). Just click the sign up link. ;) It will remain open until the beginning of 2019. I'm hoping to complete all the 2018 prompts by the end of 2019. Here's hoping muse cooperates.
> 
> If you are not an ao3 member, you can prompt me [here](http://cutsycat.livejournal.com/50701.html). Please follow the same rules as are listed in the above link. However, because this is a handmade prompt form(that thinks it's a poll), it is considerably more limited than what ao3 provides, so please use the ao3 form if you're an ao3 member. Please note the name option is for a name that I can say this is for so that you know it's for you. Since this is for non ao3 members it won't be true gifts, but you will be mentioned in the notes.
> 
> For any authors that want to chat and/or are looking for a place where they can toss plot ideas around and get input from people, you can come join my discord server that is specifically geared towards writing/encouraging people to write and authors. The invite link is [here](https://discord.gg/HFvwpCq). If you're not an author, but want to chat with me about writing/stories or anything else you are welcome to join. I reserve the right to boot you from my server if all you do is pester me about updates, however. *grin* Really anyone who wants to talk about writing and/or plot ideas for various stories is welcome to join. 
> 
> I've started a new [poll](https://cutsycat.livejournal.com/55450.html) regarding my series and which ones people most want to see continued in place of the Rapprochement series which I have brought to an end for now... 
> 
> Note: The Bishop Entanglement, Crazy Cat Tale, and Pregnant FBI Agent series will be continued no matter what, so you don't need to vote for those. For those who don't have livejournals just leave a comment with your responses. Thanks!
> 
> Also, I'm looking for some writing buddies. Full details are [here](https://cutsycat.livejournal.com/53610.html). It is friends locked, so you'll have to add me as a friend on lj before you can read it.
> 
> Also, Drakonyashka has translated a couple of my works into Russian. [Tutelage](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378780) and [Imbue](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378840). Go support them. 


End file.
